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The walls, which surrounded the entire city, were built by Athenian ruler Themistockles in 478 BC. Made in haste, the walls incorporated materials from all over the city, including marble from tombs, temples and houses.

The grand entrance to Athens was the largest gate in ancient Greece. The main roads from Thebes, Corinth and the Peloponnese led to this gate, and many ceremonial events were held here to mark arrivals and departures.

The Pompeiion was used to prepare for festive and religious processions, especially the annual Panathenaic procession, in which a new garment was brought to the statue of Athena in the Parthenon.

Through this well-preserved gate passed the Sacred Way, reserved for pilgrims and priest-esses during the procession to Eleusis (see Eleusis). A great marble sphinx was built into the gate.

The high, round burial mounds (tumuli) lining the holy road date from the 7th century BC and were probably first built to honour great warriors. Most have marble coffins and offerings at their centres, with the mounds built up around them.

It is uncertain who exactly the Tritopatores were, but they may have been representatives of the souls of the dead, and been worshipped in an ancestor cult.

This marble-relief carved tomb is of a young horseman who died in 394 BC. The dead of ancient Greece were often depicted along with their living family, saying a final goodbye.

The bull of the tomb of Dionysios of Kollytos is perhaps the most recognizable monument here. Its inscriptions tell us that Dionysios was praised for his goodness, and died unmarried, mourned by his mother and sisters.

This lovely grave pediment is one of the finest works of 5th-century BC Attic art. Hegeso, the dead woman, is seated, taking a trinket from a box. The original is in the National Archaeological Museum.

This small museum is packed with fascinating finds, including originals of many tombs replaced by casts. Don’t miss pottery shards of erotic scenes from a brothel.